New York City businessman Yuriy Kruk could face up to 15 years in jail after officials accused him of placing poisonous mercury into a family's new air conditioning system after they complained about the old one not working. File

New York City businessman Yuriy Kruk could face up to 15 years in jail after officials accused him of placing poisonous mercury into a family's new air conditioning system after they complained about the old one not working. File

A Sacramento woman is accused of cheating beneficiaries of a trust and using some of the money to gamble in Las Vegas, authorities said Wednesday.

A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Loretta Darlene Stewart-Cabrera on April 26 charging her with mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

Stewart-Cabrera, 52, is a professional fiduciary who served as a trustee for a trust that owned a Sacramento property, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California. She allegedly was having financial problems at the time. When the trust grantor died in 2012, Stewart-Cabrera carried out a scheme in which she sold the property for $300,000, gave the trust beneficiaries $30,000 and spent the rest, the news release said.

Stewart-Cabrera used some of the trust proceeds for a Las Vegas gambling trip, authorities said. She also paid family members and bought merchandise, the news release said. The trust beneficiaries were unaware of the alleged fraud.

Premium content for only $0.99

Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators worked on the case, the release said.

Stewart-Cabrera faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of mail fraud and wire fraud counts, the release said. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property from the alleged money laundering transactions if convicted of the money laundering counts, authorities said.